Duke City Produce cited for PACA violations
Duke City Produce cited for PACA violations
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has cited Duke City Produce Inc., based in Albuquerque, NM, for failure to pay $382,655 to three sellers for 53 lots of produce. This is in violation of the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act.
As a result of these actions, Duke City Produce Inc. cannot operate in the produce industry until Dec. 4, 2017, at which time it may reapply for a PACA license.
The company’s principal, Joseph V. Kemetz, may not be employed by, or affiliated with, any PACA licensee until Dec. 4, 2016, and then only with the posting of a USDA-approved surety bond.
In the past three years, the USDA resolved approximately 3,700 PACA claims involving more than $66 million. Its experts also assisted more than 7,100 callers with issues valued at approximately $100 million.